OpenPlacement is currently utilized by hospitals in California. During a utilization study at one of those hospitals OpenPlacement tracked hundreds of patients through the process of selecting post-acute care providers. Through this process we spoke with numerous patients, case managers and care providers. While conducting these interviews we consistently heard common themes which we have shared below.

In May of 2014 a patient by the name of Mr. Hill was introduced to OpenPlacement during his pre-operative visit. With the help of OpenPlacement and a world class Hospital Case Management team, Mr. Hill was able to learn about care after hospitalization, inform himself about post-acute providers and eventually transition successfully from hospital bed to a top notch care facility. We recently sat down with Mr. Hill to discuss his experience.

OPENPLACEMENT: What brought you to Stanford Hospital?

MR. HILL: I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis and it was suggested that I would benefit from a total hip replacement. After speaking to colleagues and other ‘ex-jocks’ I found that there is no shortage of advice on where to go. I decided, instead of selecting an individual [surgeon] I would focus on an institution that seemed to provide the best experience and Stanford seemed to fit the bill.

Once I finally scheduled my hip replacement, I spoke to a friend that had recently had his hip replaced at Stanford. My friend agreed that Stanford was a great institution but suggested that the hospital stay in general is fairly uneventful. He was the first to introduce me to the idea of planning for what happens after I am out of the hospital.

We all think we are going to just walk right out of the hospital but as I learned, the time between leaving the hospital and week 3 post-surgery is where you are in serious need of care, rehabilitation and oversight. My wife works full-time and my kids are not local so I needed to research some post-acute options. Low and behold when I went to my pre-operative visit at Stanford’s Redwood City campus, one of my stops during that day was with OpenPlacement. I felt relieved to know that they were going to help me think and plan beyond the hospital stay.

After meeting with OpenPlacement I logged onto their website and immediately was interested in comparing Home Health Care and “Facility Care.” I ended up reaching out to someone at the Vi in Palo Alto through OpenPlacement and also selected a few backup providers just in case. This process was extremely simple and also provided me a ton of information and data around who these providers are, the quality of their care, their availability and much more. After some dialogue and communication with the Vi, they ultimately worked out and where the best option available to me. I found OpenPlacement incredibly helpful in informing me about the options nearby and allowing me to connect directly with the post-acute care providers.

I also spoke to someone in the Case Management department at Stanford. They were clearly an important part of the process and they were very helpful in facilitating my transition from Stanford to the Vi in conjunction with OpenPlacement.

I can not imagine that there would be any patients that could not benefit from being introduced to OpenPlacement. I think the earlier people get tuned into the fact that you are not going to automatically go from hospital bed to ‘walking around’ and that post-acute care is going to be involved the better.

OPENPLACEMENT: What was most important to you in making the decision of where to go?

MR. HILL: Geographical convenience was important so my family would not have to drive a long way to come visit me. I also wanted to make sure that it would be covered by my insurance [Medicare]. I was surprised to find out that most of my stay at the Vi was covered by my insurance. I am not sure if you have been to the Vi but it is a very posh place that provides a high-level of care. I remember the pictures on OpenPlacement vividly as they really helped push me towards the Vi. The Medicare rankings which OpenPlacement provided me were also beneficial to confirm the quality of the care. I think the other thing that is helpful is seeing other customer testimonials. I always find it is best to hear from other customers that have actually been there.

OPENPLACEMENT: How did OpenPlacement improve your experience?

MR. HILL: The notion that there was going to be this stage where you are no longer in the hospital but still in need of care and that can be at home or in a facility was important to get clarified for me. Having that clarified for me improved my over all experience. I felt better prepared for what was coming. I clearly understood what my options were and I felt confident in the options I selected!

OPENPLACEMENT: Anything else in the process that you enjoyed or could be improved upon?

MR. HILL: I think having someone introduce patients to OpenPlacement early in the process really does make for a wonderful patient experience.

About OpenPlacement:

OpenPlacement facilitates the “patient choice” requirement for care transitions. Today when a patient is being discharged from a hospital to long-term and/or post-acute care the process is primarily centered around stacks of brochures, stale “lists” and hours of phone calls in order to provide the patient with enough information to make an informed decision. OpenPlacement improves this process by empowering its users (patients and care coordinators) with rich content and real-time information so that they can make these informed decisions about the care options in a more efficient manner. OpenPlacement increases patient satisfaction, reduces administrative work for case managers and mitigates risk by documenting patient choice.

About Stanford Hospital:

Stanford Hospital (now Stanford Health Care) is located at 300 Pasteur Drive, Stanford, California, 94305 and is part of the Stanford University Medical Center along with the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital and the Stanford School of Medicine. It is world-renowned for its work in cardiovascular medicine and surgery, organ transplantation, neurology, neurosurgery, and cancer diagnosis and treatment. It has nearly 40,000 room visits per year and hosts 20,000 inpatients yearly. In 2007, Stanford Hospital was ranked by U.S. News & World Report as the 15th-best hospital out of 5,462 medical centers in the United States.

About Vi:

In 2012, Vi celebrated its 25th anniversary as a developer, owner, and operator of residential communities for older adults. Today the Vi family of communities consists of 10 continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) across the United States, with corporate leadership committed to providing quality environments, services and programs to enrich the lives of older adults.

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OpenPlacement helps seniors and families find the best and most affordable assisted living facilities, senior living homes, nursing homes,
home care providers, independent living communities, dementia care providers, and hospice care in all fifty states and over one hundred
major cities throughout the United States. Our dedicated staff of senior helpers has several years experience assisting senior home care
providers fill vacancies with less time and effort than anywhere else with our proven process of screening and referring seniors discharged
from hospitals or those who are at a point where they require skilled nursing care on a long term basis. By using OpenPlacement, you can get
access to transparent, real-time information on costs, vacancies, and inside views of the best and most affordable senior home care services,
assisted living facilities, nursing homes, hospice care, dementia care, and independent living communities for free, just by signing up on
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